Soil-engaging element for a construction machine

ABSTRACT

A soil-engaging, supporting foot for an excavating machine or other heavy construction machine consists essentially of a plate, a hinge on the plate for attaching the plate to the machine in a normally horizontal position, a skirt depending from the plate and having a lower cutting edge extending in a closed path, and spikes downwardly projecting from the skirt. The upper edge of the skirt and the circumference of the plate define openings in the plane of the plate.

United States Patent 709,300 9/1902 Buchtel Inventor Appl. No.

Filed Patented Assignee Priority Ernst Menzi Wldnau, Switzerland 788,994

Dec. 31, 1968 Aug. 17, 1971 Ernst Menzl AG Wldnau, Switzerland Jan. 3, 1968 Austria SOIL-ENGAGING ELEMENT FOR A CONSTRUCTION MACHINE 7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl. 1nt.Cl. Field ofSearch References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 891,448 6/1908 Snider 52/165 1,870,914 8/1932 Lane 52/292 2,098,343 11/1937 Lawton 52/292 2,874,547 2/1959 Fiore 52/165 FOREIGN PATENTS 660,372 11/1951 Great Britain 248/357 180,429 1917 Canada 52/155 1,231 1916 Netherlands 52/155 Primary Examiner Frank L. Abbott Assistant Examiner-Henry C. Sutherland Attorney-l(elman & Berman ABSTRACT: A soil-engaging, supporting foot for an excavating machine or other heavy construction machine consists essentially of a plate, a hinge on the plate for attaching the plate to the machine in a normally horizontal position, a skirt depending from the plate and having a lower cutting edge extending in a closed path, and spikes downwardly projecting from the skirt. The upper edge of the skirt and the circumference of the plate define openings in the plane of the plate.

sum 1 OF 2 INVENTOR. EH45? MzmLl' BY-' aw Md 0mm Ham 75 SOIL-ENGAGING ELEMENT FOR A CONSTRUCTION MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION by the foot over as large an area of the soil as possible, and

there by to prevent the machine from sinking into the ground. Narrow wedges or similar spikes project from the face of the known foot into the ground to prevent horizontal shifting movement of the foot under the normal operating stresses.

The. known supporting elements perform their intended functions satisfactorily when used in the same place for extended periods. The are less sufficient when the supported machine must be moved frequently during its operation, as is I normally necessary with excavating machines. The feet must be lifted from the ground before the machine can be moved to a new location on its own wheels or on a transporting carriage. If the soil is wet, as is frequently the case, clods of compacted soil stick to the plate and to the spikes and prevent proper anchoring of the foot at the new location unless removed in an operation which is time consuming and reduces the operating efficiency of the machine and of its crew.

An important object of the invention is the provision of a soil-engaging foot for a construction machine of the type described which automatically cleans itself of adhering soil carried over from a previous location when put in position at a new location.

. Another object is the provision of better vertical and lateral anchorage for construction machinery by means of an improved supporting foot which is not significantly more complex nor costlier than a conventional soil-engaging foot of similar weight and bulk.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION With these and other objects in view, the invention provides a soil-engaging support element having a plate number normally attached to a construction machine in a horizontal position with a skirt of rigid sheet material fixedly fastened to the plate member and depending from the same. The skirt has at its bottom an exposed, narrow cutting edge which extends in a closed path. Spikes which are spaced from each other along that path are attached to the skirt and project downwardly from the same.

Other features and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will readily become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments when considered in connection with the appended drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION THE DRAWING In the drawing:

with a foot as illustrated, and the leg is raised to withdraw the foot from the ground when the machine moves forward as the excavation work progresses.

The illustrated foot has a heavy, normally horizontally extending steel plate 1 from which a skirt 2 of similar rigid sheet or plate material depends at right angles. The plate 1 is square in the plan view of FIG. 2, and the skirt 2 forms the outline of a four-pronged star or of a square whose sides were deformed to shift the center of each side slightly toward the center of the square. The centers of the two squares or approximate squares coincide, but the squares are angularly offset about the common center in such a manner that the diagonals of each square bisect the angle between the diagonals of the other square.

The two squares have sides of equal length, and the aforedescn'bed angular orientation causes triangular apertures to be defined at each corner of the skirt Zbetween the sides of the plate 1 and the top edge of he skirt in theplane of the plate. The center portions of each side of the skirt 2 are covered by the corners of the plate 1, but the covered skirt portion amounts to less than onedtalf, actually less than onethird of the circumference of the skirt, and is merely long enough to permit the skirt to be firmly fastened to the plate 1 by spot welds.

The top of the plate 1 carries two apertured hinge plates 5 which normally receive therebetween a corresponding plate (not shown) fixed on a leg of the excavator, and fastened to the plates 5 by a nonillustrated horizontal pivot pin.

' The skirt 2 is assembled by welding from four identical sections which are V-shaped in plan view, and whose bottom edges 3 slant obliquely upward from the apex of the V. The skirt is thus saw-toothed and its narrow lower edge varies in its spacing from the plane of the plate 1, being nearest the plate at the comers of the latter. Spikes 4 are welded to the skirt 2 in its four corners respectively and project downwardly beyond the edges 3. I

When the aforedescribed foot is lowered on relatively soft soil, and the heavy weight of the excavating machine is transferred thereto, its lower cutting edge 3 bites into the soil in the manner of a cookie cutter until the plate 1 engages the soil surface. The skirt 2, when embedded in the soil, not only impedes lateral displacement of the supporting element, but it also prevents the somewhat plastic soil from flowing laterally away from the space under the plate 1 which is closed in all horizontal directions by the skirt. The skirt thus contributes not only to the horizontal, but also to the vertical stability of i the element. The spikes 4 which extend even deeper into the soil prevent the skirt from being bent under horizontal stresses.

When the soil-engaging support element of the invention is lifted from the soil during movement of the excavating FIG. 1 shows a soil-engaging support element of the. invention in front elevation;

FIG. 2 illustrates the apparatus of F IG. 1 in plan view; and FIGS. 3 to 5 are respective diagrammatic plan views of modifications of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is seen one of the four soil-engaging feet of a self-propelled excavating machine, such as a bucket excavator which normally travels on wheels or caterpillar tracks, but is equipped with legs lowered to support the weight of the machine and operating stresses when the machine is at a working location. Each leg is equipped machine, it carries with it adhering soil, but this material cannot interfere with proper anchoring of the element at the next operating location. As the element is set down on the ground, the adhering clods of soil are discharged upward through the apertures along the upper edge of the skirt 2. The comers of the plate 1 do not significantly interfere with this self-cleaning operation. The sawtooth shape of the skirt facilitates penetration of the soil and the striping of adhering soil clods from the skirt by the newly engaged soil.

The configuration of the horizontal plate and of the depending skirt may be modified to suit specific prevailing soil conditions and other requirements without departing from the spirit of the invention, as diagrammatically illustrated in the plan views FIGS. 3 to 5, the features not seen in these Figures or not specifically described with reference thereto being analogous to those of the first described embodiment of the invention.

The modified support element seen in FIG. 3 has a square horizontal plate 1' whose diagonal is approximately equal to the side of the square formed by the skirt 2. The circumferential length of the skirt 2' covered by the plate 1' is thus reduced to a minimum in this arrangement, but reinforcing elements, not shown, must be provided at the corners of the plate 1' for the necessary rigid connection of the plate to the skirt 2.

Since one of the functions of the skirt in the support element of the invention is closely similar to the normal function of a cookie cutter blade, the skirt may assume that various shapes of conventional cookie cutter blades if the associated horizontal plate is suitably modified. FIG. 4 thus shows a square plate 1" associated with a circular skirt 2", the square of the plate being inscribed in the circle of the skirt. The rectangular plate 1" in FIG. 5 is mounted within an elliptic skirt 2". Other modifications in the shapes of the plate and skirt will readily suggest themselves.

I claim:

l. A soil-engaging support element for a construction machine comprising, in combination:

a. a plate member;

b. hinge means for hingedly fastening said member to said machine in a horizontally extending plane in the normal operating condition of said element;

c. a skirt of rigid sheet material fixedly fastened to said plate member and depending from the same in said condition, 1. said skirt having an expose narrow cutting edge directed away from said plate member,

2. said skirt closing a space under said plate member in all horizontal directions and said edge extending in a closed path downwardly spaced from said plate member,

3. said skirt and said plate member defining therebetween a plurality of apertures in said plane; and

d. a plurality of spikes attached to said skirt,

1. said spikes being spaced from each other along said path and projecting from said edge in a normally downward direction.

2. An element as set forth in claim 1, wherein said plate member and said skirt in plan view each have the approximate shape of a square, the centers of said squares approximately coinciding, and their diagonals being angularly offset relative to said centers.

3. An element as set forth in claim 2, wherein the diagonals of one of said squares approximately bisect the angles between the diagonals of the other square.

4. An element as set forth in claim 1, wherein said edge is spaced from said plane in a normally downward direction, the downward spacing of said edge from said plane varying along said path.

5. An element as set forth in claim 1, wherein said hinge means include a pivot having an axis substantially parallel to said plane.

6. An element as set forth in claim 1, wherein said skirt has a top edge, less than one half of said top edge being covered by said plate member.

7. An element as set forth in claim 1, wherein said skirt is substantially perpendicular to said plane in said condition. 

1. A soil-engaging support element for a construction machine comprising, in combination: a. a plate member; b. hinge means for hingedly fastening said member to said machine in a horizontally extending plane in the normal operating condition of said element; c. a skirt of rigid sheet material fixedly fastened to said plate member and depending from the same in said condition,
 1. said skirt having an expose narrow cutting edge directed away from said plate member,
 2. said skirt closing a space under said plate member in all horizontal directions and said edge extending in a closed path downwardly spaced from said plate member,
 3. said skirt and said plate member defining therebetween a plurality of apertures in said plane; and d. a plurality of spikes attached to said skirt,
 1. said spikes being spaced from each other along said path and projecting from said edge in a normally downward direction.
 2. said skirt closing a space under said plate member in all horizontal directions and said edge extending in a closed path downwardly spaced from said plate member,
 2. An element as set forth in claim 1, wherein said plate member and said skirt in plan view each have the approximate shape of a square, the centers of said squares approximately coinciding, and their diagonals being angularly offset relative to said centers.
 3. An element as set forth in claim 2, wherein the diagonals of one of said squares approximately bisect the angles between the diagonals of the other square.
 3. said skirt and said plate member defining therebetween a plurality of apertures in said plane; and d. a plurality of spikes attached to said skirt,
 4. An element as set forth in claim 1, wherein said edge is spaced from said plane in a normally downward direction, the downward spacing of said edge from said plane varying along said path.
 5. An element as set forth in claim 1, wherein said hinge means include a pivot having an axis substantially parallel to said plane.
 6. An element as set forth in claim 1, wherein said skirt has a top edge, less than one half of said top edge being covered by said plate member.
 7. An element as set forth in claim 1, wherein said skirt is substantially perpendicular to said plane in said condition. 